Abstract
This paper intends to probe into the shaping effects of the two cultures on the hero, Amir, in the novel The Kite Runner, a successful work of the Afghan-American writer Khaled Hosseini. Amir spent his childhood in Afghanistan and thus was deeply influenced by Islamic culture. Later he went to America with his father,   received higher education there and was absorbed into American society. Consequently, he is shaped by these two different cultures. This paper discusses the factors in the formation of Amir from the cultural perspecitve, trying to gain a deeper understanding of the work as well as a better comprehension of the image of the hero.

Keywords   The Kite Runner   Amir    Islamic Culture    American Culture

本文通过对阿富汗裔美国作家卡勒德•胡赛尼的小说《追风筝的人》的深入分析，探讨两种文化在小说主人公阿米尔的性格形成过程中所产生的作用。阿米尔童年生活在阿富汗，深受伊斯兰文化的熏陶，而长大后随父亲逃亡到了美国，接受美式教育，融入美国社会。自然而然，在他的身上有着两种文化深刻的印记。本文从文化角度入手，发掘阿米尔性格及行为的成因，增加对该人物形象的理解和对小说深层次内容的把握。

关键词  《追风筝的人》 阿米尔 伊斯兰文化 美国文化

1 Introduction
Khaled Hosseini, born in 1965 in Kabul, Afghanistan, is an American novelist and physician of Afghan origin. In 1970, he and his family moved to Iran where his father worked for the Embassy of Afghanistan in Tehran. Then his father obtained a job in Paris, and moved the family there. They were unable to return to Afghanistan because of the Saur Revolution in which the PDPA communist party seized power through a bloody coup in April, 1978. They sought political asylum in the United States and made their residence in California, the experiences of which are amply reflected in The Kite Runner.

Hosseini started his life in America when he was fifteen years old. He got good education there. In 1984, he was enrolled in Santa Clara University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in bioloy and the following year, he entered the University of California, San Diego. He completed his residency in internal medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles in 1996. He practiced medicine until a year and a half after the release of The Kite Runner, his 2003 debut novel, an international best-seller, selling more than twelve million copies worldwide.